This paper centers on doctoral-level education candidates in the United States and Australia and their realms of engagement with information. On the basis of in-depth interviews with American and Australian doctoral students and academic librarians, we pose a critical reflection upon the two doctoral pedagogies as they relate to experiences of…

Riparian ecosystems are an exciting and dynamic subject for study. These areas are valuable lands and important wildlife habitats, and they contribute greatly to the environmental health of an area. Definitions for the term "riparian" vary, but in this curriculum, the land called the "Green Zone" lies between flowing water and upland ecosystems.…

Making connections becomes increasingly important as students proceed through middle school and high school. This book shows ways of embedding connective processes in instruction in grades 9-12. Problems invite mathematical modeling, unify diverse content, call for different representations, and encourage students to look back at their work to…

This investigation was designed to determine the influence of metaphorical priming on students' comprehension of issues and concepts pertaining to the U.S. Constitution when students studied the subject matter in a problem-based hypermedia instructional system. Sixty-five high school seniors studied the system for 5 days after receiving relevant,…

A content analysis of 46 early learning standards documents developed by state-level organizations and available for review in January 2005 was conducted to determine the specific areas of development addressed within the standards documents. The authors contend that this type of analysis is important because early learning standards that define…

This article explores the synergy that can be created when concept-mapping techniques are used in collaboration with the construction of PowerPoint presentations to increase the richness of the learning experience. Some weaknesses of the typical PowerPoint format are highlighted with a description of how they can be overcome through a more…

A statewide survey was completed by 234 special education teachers with experience in developing assessment portfolios within the Illinois Alternate Assessment (IAA) system. Relationships between these teachers' demographics and their perspectives, concerns, and self-reported practices related to the IAA system was identified and described. These…

This meta-analysis reviews experimental and quasi-experimental studies in which students learned by constructing, modifying, or viewing node-link diagrams. Following an exhaustive search for studies meeting specified design criteria, 67 standardized mean difference effect sizes were extracted from 55 studies involving 5,818 participants. Students…

Educationalists experience difficulties with the construction of competence maps that describe final attainment levels of educational programs. Web-based support was developed with three supportive aids: A construction kit, a phenomenarium, and an information bank. Each supportive aid was expected to improve perceived process and product quality…

In 2005, the School of Property, Construction and Project Management at RMIT University, Melbourne, introduced a new curriculum format for all first year students. All students enrolling in one of the four undergraduate degrees offered by the school commenced a common first year programme. This new curriculum was adopted to provide students with a…

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between approaches to learning and locus of control of students from the USA, Japan, and Taiwan. The results show that students from the USA utilized more rote memory learning compared to students from Japan and Taiwan, while students from Japan were more likely to be "Achieving"…

This study aims at highlighting the collaborative activity of two high school students (age 14) in the cases of modeling the complex biological process of plant growth with two different tools: the "paper & pencil" concept mapping technique and the computer-supported educational environment "ModelsCreator". Students' shared activity in both cases…

A concept map is a graph in which the nodes represent concepts, the lines between the nodes represent relations, and the labels on the lines represent the nature of the relations. Concept maps have been used to assess students' knowledge structures, especially in science education. Two concept mapping techniques, constructing a map and filling in…

When students use concept maps to construct and represent their understandings, these concept maps can be analyzed for representation of understanding from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. In this study, a qualitative approach was utilized to extend the interpretations from the quantitative analysis of students' conceptual…

This paper reports a study on how prospective elementary school teachers make sense of teaching social studies through conceptual mapping, and therefore provide an opportunity for teacher educators to assess the value of conceptual mapping as a pedagogical tool. Pre- and post-course concept mapping was incorporated into three sections of an…